Canadian Mortgage Housing Update

Builders started work on fewer houses in February than January, but more houses
were sold in 2009’s second month than the first.
So are February statistics from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation good
news or bad?
Well, let’s have a look at some highlights.
Rate of housing starts (seasonally adjusted) in 2009
 January: 153,500
 February: 134,700
Rate of housing starts (seasonally adjusted) in 2008
 January: 228,000 (approx.)
 February: 230,000 (approx.)
The anomaly to the decrease in housing starts is in Atlantic Canada’s urban centres,
where new builds actually increased by 10.8% in February, to 8,200 units. The rest of
urban Canada:
 Quebec – down 19.6% to 29,100 units;
 Prairies – down 19.4% to 14,100 units;
 Ontario – down 14.4% to 44,100 units;
 British Columbia – down 12% to 12,400 units
So, aside from the struggling economy, what caused the housing starts to drop by
nearly 20,000 in February ’09, from the month prior? Well, the CMHC says fewer
houses were sold in February, while more were put on the market. New listings in
February rose 1.6% to 70,797 units, up from January’s 69,706. The flooded real estate
market has given potential buyers more options, and less need to build.
As the economic instability continues, the housing market moves closer and closer to
a buyer’s market. That continuing shift resulted in an 8.6% increase in February home
sales (28,669) from January (26,388). This rebound pales in comparison to February
2008 though, as the sales in the second month of ’08 were 30.9% higher.
So, while sellers had a better chance of moving their home in February, chances are
good they didn’t get the dollars they were hoping for. The average sale price of MLS
homes in February dropped 1.3% from January, to $279,598, while the average price
is down a whopping 9.1% from February 2008.
As more houses hit the market and builders slow their pace, employees in the
construction trade have taken a hard hit, as 43,000 positions were lost in February,
continuing a decline that has seen 6.4% of construction workers be let go since
October, 2008.
So if you’re in the market to buy, you are firmly in the driver’s seat. Although more
homes were sold in February, the average price was lower. Be diligent, shop around
and drive a hard bargain – you should be able to find yourself a deal in today’s housing
market.